diff --git a/.github/actions/install_requirements/action.yml b/.github/actions/install_requirements/action.yml
index 25a146d1..c5d4db43 100644
--- a/.github/actions/install_requirements/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/install_requirements/action.yml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ runs:
         mkdir -p lockfiles
         pip freeze --exclude-editable > lockfiles/${{ inputs.requirements_file }}
         # delete the self referencing line and make sure it isn't blank
-        sed -i '/file:/d' lockfiles/${{ inputs.requirements_file }}
+        sed -i'' -e '/file:/d' lockfiles/${{ inputs.requirements_file }}
       shell: bash
 
     - name: Upload lockfiles
diff --git a/.github/pages/make_switcher.py b/.github/pages/make_switcher.py
index 39c12772..d70367ae 100755
--- a/.github/pages/make_switcher.py
+++ b/.github/pages/make_switcher.py
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ def write_json(path: Path, repository: str, versions: str):
     ]
     text = json.dumps(struct, indent=2)
     print(f"JSON switcher:\n{text}")
-    path.write_text(text)
+    path.write_text(text, encoding="utf-8")
 
 
 def main(args=None):
diff --git a/.github/workflows/code.yml b/.github/workflows/code.yml
index c728ed8b..e57f238f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/code.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/code.yml
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        os: ["ubuntu-latest"] # can add windows-latest, macos-latest
+        os: ["ubuntu-latest", "windows-latest", "macos-latest"]
         python: ["3.9", "3.10", "3.11"]
         install: ["-e .[dev]"]
         # Make one version be non-editable to test both paths of version code
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 5359c2d1..c679db98 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ classifiers = [
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11",
 ]
-description = "One line description of your module"
+description = "The CLI for adopting the python3-pip-skeleton framework"
 dependencies = ["tomli"] # Add project dependencies here, e.g. ["click", "numpy"]
 dynamic = ["version"]
 license.file = "LICENSE"
diff --git a/src/python3_pip_skeleton/__main__.py b/src/python3_pip_skeleton/__main__.py
index d2ca4f5e..1688b76b 100644
--- a/src/python3_pip_skeleton/__main__.py
+++ b/src/python3_pip_skeleton/__main__.py
@@ -127,8 +127,10 @@ def replace_text(text: str) -> str:
         return text
 
     def replace_in_file(file_path: Path, text_from: str, text_to: str):
-        file_contents = file_path.read_text()
-        file_path.write_text(file_contents.replace(text_from, text_to))
+        file_contents = file_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+        file_path.write_text(
+            file_contents.replace(text_from, text_to), encoding="utf-8"
+        )
 
     branches = list_branches(path)
     assert MERGE_BRANCH not in branches, (
@@ -155,22 +157,23 @@ def replace_in_file(file_path: Path, text_from: str, text_to: str):
         for relative_child in git_tmp("ls-files").splitlines():
             child = Path(git_tmp.name) / relative_child
             if child.suffix in CHANGE_SUFFIXES and child.name not in IGNORE_FILES:
-                text = replace_text(child.read_text())
-                child.write_text(text)
+                text = replace_text(child.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+                child.write_text(text, encoding="utf-8")
             # Replace the file, ignoring text between specified substrings
             elif (
                 child.suffix in CHANGE_SUFFIXES
                 and child.name in IGNORE_FILES
                 and IGNORE_FILES[child.name]
             ):
-                original_text = child.read_text()
+                original_text = child.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
                 ignore_sections = find_ignore_sections(
                     child.name, original_text, IGNORE_FILES[child.name]
                 )
                 child.write_text(
                     replace_text_ignoring_sections(
                         original_text, ignore_sections, replace_text
-                    )
+                    ),
+                    encoding="utf-8",
                 )
 
         # Change instructions in the docs to reflect which pip skeleton is in use
diff --git a/tests/test_adopt.py b/tests/test_adopt.py
index 17aaf273..71252284 100644
--- a/tests/test_adopt.py
+++ b/tests/test_adopt.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import subprocess
 import sys
-from os import chdir, makedirs
+from os import chdir, makedirs, name
 from pathlib import Path
 from unittest.mock import patch
 
@@ -80,11 +80,20 @@ def test_new_module(extra_args, tmp_path: Path):
     )
     assert (module / "src" / "my_module").is_dir()
     assert check_output("git", "branch", cwd=module).strip() == "* main"
+
     check_output("python", "-m", "venv", "venv", cwd=module)
-    check_output("venv/bin/pip", "install", "--upgrade", "pip", cwd=module)
-    check_output("venv/bin/pip", "install", ".[dev]", cwd=module)
+
+    if name == "nt":
+        python_exec = (module / "venv" / "Scripts" / "python.exe").absolute()
+    else:
+        python_exec = Path("venv") / "bin" / "python"
+
     check_output(
-        "venv/bin/python",
+        str(python_exec), "-m", "pip", "install", "--upgrade", "pip", cwd=module
+    )
+    check_output(str(python_exec), "-m", "pip", "install", ".[dev]", cwd=module)
+    check_output(
+        str(python_exec),
         "-m",
         "sphinx",
         "-EWT",
@@ -94,7 +103,7 @@ def test_new_module(extra_args, tmp_path: Path):
         cwd=module,
     )
     with pytest.raises(ValueError) as ctx:
-        check_output("venv/bin/python", "-m", "pytest", module / "tests", cwd=module)
+        check_output(str(python_exec), "-m", "pytest", module / "tests", cwd=module)
     out = ctx.value.args[0]
     print(out)
     assert "4 failed, 1 passed" in out
@@ -138,7 +147,12 @@ def test_new_module_merge_from_valid_branch(tmp_path: Path):
     # Test basic functionality
     assert (module / "src" / "my_module").is_dir()
     check_output("python", "-m", "venv", "venv", cwd=module)
-    check_output("venv/bin/pip", "install", ".[dev]", cwd=module)
+
+    python_exec = Path("venv") / "bin" / "python"
+    if name == "nt":
+        python_exec = (module / "venv" / "Scripts" / "python.exe").absolute()
+
+    check_output(str(python_exec), "-m", "pip", "install", ".[dev]", cwd=module)
 
 
 def test_new_module_merge_from_invalid_branch(tmp_path: Path):
diff --git a/tests/test_boilerplate_removed.py b/tests/test_boilerplate_removed.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4dcf9459
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_boilerplate_removed.py
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+"""
+This file checks that all the example boilerplate text has been removed.
+It can be deleted when all the contained tests pass.
+
+We include it in the skeleton-cli to ensure it passes for windows and macOS too.
+"""
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+if sys.version_info < (3, 8):
+    from importlib_metadata import metadata  # noqa
+else:
+    from importlib.metadata import metadata  # noqa
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).parent.parent
+
+
+def skeleton_check(check: bool, text: str):
+    if ROOT.name == "python3-pip-skeleton" or str(ROOT) == "/project":
+        # In the skeleton module the check should fail
+        check = not check
+        text = f"Skeleton didn't raise: {text}"
+    if check:
+        raise AssertionError(text)
+
+
+def assert_not_contains_text(path: str, text: str, explanation: str):
+    full_path = ROOT / path
+    if full_path.exists():
+        contents = full_path.read_text().replace("\n", " ")
+        skeleton_check(text in contents, f"Please change ./{path} {explanation}")
+
+
+# pyproject.toml
+def test_module_summary():
+    summary = metadata("python3-pip-skeleton")["summary"]
+    skeleton_check(
+        "One line description of your module" in summary,
+        "Please change project.description in ./pyproject.toml "
+        "to be a one line description of your module",
+    )
+
+
+# README
+def test_changed_README_intro():
+    assert_not_contains_text(
+        "README.rst",
+        "This is where you should write a short paragraph",
+        "to include an intro on what your module does",
+    )
+
+
+def test_removed_adopt_skeleton():
+    assert_not_contains_text(
+        "README.rst",
+        "This project contains template code only",
+        "remove the note at the start",
+    )
+
+
+def test_changed_README_body():
+    assert_not_contains_text(
+        "README.rst",
+        "This is where you should put some images or code snippets",
+        "to include some features and why people should use it",
+    )